Easy Peppermint Playdough and Christmas Accessories

I love homemade playdough and try to make sure we always have some on hand. One of the great things about playdough is that it is so simple to change the experience by changing the accessories. Playdough Sensory and Color and Animal Print Playdough are two great examples.

Winter is a great time to have a little extra fun with playdough and playdough accessories. Anyone want to build a snowman?

Easy Peppermint Playdough

Tip #1 – The recipe that I followed asks for the peppermint extract to be added after the playdough is made. I added it while the playdough was cooking and liked that better. (I used about 2 teaspoons.)

Tip #2 – For those of you who would rather not make your own play dough, store bought can be transformed into a sensory wonderland as well! (I had to add quite a bit more of peppermint extract to cover the store bought smell, but it did work!)

Christmas Playdough Accessories

Getting creative with playdough accessories is fun! For this project I wanted to include everything the kids would need to build snowmen as well as some extra Christmas goodies.

Accessory ideas

Sticks.

Felt cut into scarves.

Buttons.

Acorn tops.

Pebbles.

Plastic candy canes. (The little ones pictured above were part of a candy cane chain. I just cut them apart. We used the beads that connected them too.)

Plastic snowflakes.

Glitter. (Glitter is not my favorite but I can handle it when it’s tucked neatly into playdough. Just let your little one sprinkle it straight onto the playdough and kneed it in. All the sparkle, none of the glitter mess.)

We did this activity today and liked it even better than the gingerbread man hunt (also a hit). My three-year-old and his 2-1/2-yo friend had a blast, especially with the bowls of twigs and buttons and with cookie cutters. The cooked play dough recipe was easy to follow and felt great to work with. I don’t think I’ll go back to store-bought … too many extracts to try. (Though next time I need to remember to check against evaporation before starting the recipe. Turns out my full bottle of peppermint extract had, over time, dwindled to a half-teaspoon.) Glitter in play dough was a new idea for us, too. I’m not sure the kids noticed it much, but I loved it.